Dispensing container



1360 R. E. JACOBS DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed May 2, 1934 m N m T 4 T APatented May 19, 1936 DISPENSING CONTAINER Reed Elliott Jacobs, Hayward,Calif., assignor of forty per cent to Marie M. Bolton, Oakland,

Calif.

ApplicationMay 2, 1934, Serial No. 723,530

5 Claims.

This invention is a dispensing container, forming a packing receptaclefor various commodities in liquid, powder, granular or flake form, suchas milk, syrups, salt, sugar, powdered soaps and other pourableproducts, and is designed to overcome the defects and high cost ofdispensing devices now in use, and which consist of individual spouts orclosures which are separately formed from the container and attachedthereto. The pouring spouts or lips now in use are usually formed ofmetal, and in some cases of cardboard, and are not formed from a portionof the container or the cover therefor.

These spouts usually leak about their mounting slots, and when they aremade of metal, add considerably to the cost of manufacture of thecontainers when considered in the light of the enormous volume of suchcontainers produced.

This invention contemplates the forming of the spout or dispensingaperture from a portion of the container and is maintained integraltherewith, and the material of the container with the spout or closureportion forms its own hinge, while a sealing disc or diaphragm which ismerely pasted over the closure or spout portion to seal the same forshipment, reinforces, and makes responsive, the hinge portion, and formsauxiliary sealing means when the seal has been broken by contact of theedges of rupture.

This diaphragm is preferably formed of a thin paraffine paper resilientin nature or an elastic or resilient material, such as rubber,rubberized paper or fabric, or tough paper such as the usual kraftpapers which are extensively used as wrapping paper and in themanufacture of bags, since this paper is tough, resistant to bending andresilient, and which in connection with the cardboard from which cartonsare usually made (and which has little inherent resiliency) normallymaintains the closure in closed position.

Agar-agar forms a very suitable paste for the diaphragms for fiuidcontainers since it is noncontaminating, and agar-agar or parafiine isvery desirable for use as pasting means for cartons when paper is usedfor the diaphragm, or rubber cement may be used provided anon-contaminating solvent for the rubber is employed.

The main object of the invention is to provide a pouring spout forcontainers which spout is an integral part of the container and madeoperable at will, and to provide means for hermetically sealing thespout portion for shipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container cover with aportion normally held in is to seal the closure portion during. shipmentwith contents by means of a resilient diaphragm in conjunction with anon-contaminating adhesive for application of the diaphragm.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe following description is read on the drawing forming a part of thisspecification and in which similar reference characters are used todesignate similar parts throughout the several views, of which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective View of a container with theinvention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is. a modification of the invention in which the rimof the coverdoes not form a part of the closure, and shows side releasing means forthe closure.

Fig. 3 is a modification of Fig. 2 showing end 5 releasing means.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a modification of Fig. 2 showing a central releasing slot.

Fig. 6 is a modification of Fig. 1 showing only a portion of the coverrim and also a portion of the top of the container forming an integralreinforcing portion of the closure.

Fig. '7 is a modification of Fig. 1 applied to a rectangular container.

Fig. 8 is a modification of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 for application to liquidcontainers.

Fig. 9 is another modification of the invention,

Fig. 10 is a section taken on line llll0 of Fig. 9.

The invention consists of a container body I2 having a cover I3 which isprovided with a rim M, which rim is either pasted or otherwise sealed tothe body l2, the cover [3 having a closure formed from a portionthereof, the removal of this portion-forming a pouring aperture orspout.

As shown in Fig. 1, the closure I5 is formed by slitting or weakeningthe cover along two radially converging lines [6 and I1, and about therim, the portion l8 between the terminals of the slits or lines beingleft integral with the cover proper and forming a hinge for the closure.These slits, at the time of manufacture, may extend only part waythrough the thickness of the material, in which case no diaphragm isrequired. When slit through, a diaphragm l9 of rubber, tough paper orsimilar material, is pasted over the closure, using a non-contaminatingadhesive.

It will be noted that by the combination of an underbody I3 ofnon-resistant pressboard and a superposed flexure resistant, resilientreinforcement [9, the closure [5 will be normally retained in a closedposition and the hinge portion l8 will be efiective throughout theentire time in which such products are usually dis- 7 pensed, while thecardboard of the cover might readily break off in the interim. I

The lip 20 fits within the slot formed in the rim of the cover, fullyclosing the dispensing opening and providing convenient means forraising the closure.

In Fig. 2, a modification is shown in which the closure 2| does notcontinue into the rim 14 but terminates at its outer edge 22substantially parallel with the inner surface of the container cover, sothat when closed, the end will rest on the top edge of the containerbody. An implement receiving slot may be provided in the cover member asshown at 23, or in the closure portion as shown at 24, the assemblybeing sealed by the diaphragm 25 by means of adhesive 26.

In Fig. 3, another modification is shown in which the radiallyconverging slits 21 and 28 terminate in a slot 29, while in Fig. 5, theslot 30 is formed centrally of the closure 3|.

In Fig. 6, another modification is shown in which the structure issimilar to that shown in Fig. 1 except that the lip includes only aportion 32 of the rim and additionally includes a portion 33 of theupper end of the container body 12, forming a through slot 34 when thisportion is slitted out. This forms .a reinforced lip which is convenientto open, the portions 32 and 33 being pasted together and therebyforming a rigid member.

The modification shown in Fig. 7 is identical in all respects to thatshown in Fig. 1 except as applied to a rectangular container, theclosure 35 having the angular lip 36v which fits over the corner 31 ofthe body 38, and being formed'fro'm the rectangular cover 39. r l

Another modification is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 in which the cover isslit or weakened along the lines 40 and 42, which are connected by aslit 4| intermediate their length, and which form the closure members 43and. 44 as is clearly shown in Fig. 10.

In Fig. 8 is a modification which is especially applicable for use withmetal containers such as milk and syrup cans which require both, apouring aperture and a vent. In this modification, the metal is weakenedas indicated by the dotted lines 45, 46 and 41, permitting a knife orother instrument 48 to penetrate at some point to lift out the weakenedportion, which can be readily bent down again for sealing the contents.

As will be noted, the resistance of the composite closure structurepermits the weight of the contents, after the seal or diaphragm isbroken, to force the closure open for dispensing but immediately closeswhen the carton is placed in its upright position. It is therefore,automatic in its action, and should there be any tendency to stick, theclosure is readily released by a finger.

The slots 23, 24, 29 and 30 are provided so that any convenientinstrument such as a spoon 48, a nailor knife may be used to rupture thediaphragm and lift the closure.

This arrangement of dispensing and closure means is economical from amanufacturing standpoint, since where the boundaries of the closure aremerely weakened, only the cost of forming the weakened lines isreckoned, while in such cases where the closures are formed by slitting,the additional cost includes only the cost of the diaphragm and itsattachment. This container complete costs no more to manufacture thanpresent containers cost to prepare them for the spouts; therefore, theentire cost of the spouts is saved.

It will be understood that variations in construction and arrangement ofparts which are consistent with the appended claims may be resorted towithout. detracting from the spirit or scope of the invention orsacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. In a container, a body, a cover provided with a rim extended over aportion of the outer surface of said body, a closure consisting of atongue lying between two outwardly converging slits formed in the mainportion of the cover and continued into a portion of said rim, the rimends of the slits being connected by a cross slit in the rim so arrangedas to provide an angular sealing lip for said tongue, and a diaphragm ofresilient flexible material adhering to the outer surface of the mainportion of said cover and extended over said rim in such manner as tonormally urge the body portion of the tongue and its angular lip toclosed position.

2. In a container, a body, a cover provided with a rim extended over andfixedly secured to a portion of the outer surface of said body, aclosure consisting of a tongue lying between two outwardly convergingslits formed in the main portion of the cover and connected at theirouter ends by a cross slit, the main portion of said cover having animplement receiving slot located contiguously to said tongue, and adiaphragm of resilient flexible material adhering to said cover and saidrim and extended over the tongue and the implement receiving slot insuch manner as to normally urge the tongue to closed position, saiddiaphragm being of sufficient area to seal the slot while the tongue isin closed position.

3. In a container, a body, a cover provided with a rim extended over andsecured to an adjacent portion of the outer surface of said body, aclosure consisting of a tongue lying between two outwardly convergingslits formed in the main portion of the cover and continued at theirouter ends into a portion of said rim, the rim ends of said slits beingconnected by a cross slit in the rim so arranged as to provide anangular sealing lip for said tongue, said body having a removableportion adhering to the underside of said sealing lip and reinforcingthe same.

4. In a container, a body, a cover provided with a rim extended over andsecured to an adjacent portion of the outer surface of said body, aclosure consisting of a tongue lying between two outwardly convergingslits formed in the main portion of the cover and continued at theirouter ends into a portion of said rim, the rim ends of said slits beingconnected by a cross slit in the rim so arranged as to provide anangular sealing lip for said tongue, the upper edge of said body havinga removable portion adhering to the underside of the sealing lip andreinforcing said lip, and a diaphragm of flexible material adhering tosaid cover and extended over a portion of said rim in such manner as tonormally seal the tongue and its angular lip.

5. In a container, at body, a cover provided with a rim extended over aportion of the outer surface of said body, a closure consisting of atongue 1ying between two outwardly converging slits formed in the mainportion of the cover and continued into a portion of said rim, the rimends of said slits being connected by a cross slit in the i0 rim soarranged as to provide an angular sealing extremity for said tongue,said cover having an implement receiving slot located contiguously tosaid tongue, and a diaphragm of resilient flexible material adhering tosaid cover in such manner as to normally urge the tongue to closedposition, said diaphragm being of sufiicient area to extend over andcover the slit portion of the rim and to seal said implement receivingslot, the tongue, and the angular extremity of the latter.

REED ELLIOTT JACOBS.

